Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida
Elective Share
My father died in Fl with a will. It left all to me and my sister and specifically said nothing goes to my stepmother. Under the old Fla Probate law she gets the van, the house and 30 % of assets due to elective share. But I can't get a straight legal answer to the below:
1. Does she get the van and house plus 30% of the value of the house & van & CD's?
2. She has left the house shortly after his death ( May) and forwarded tax bills etc to my sister ( personal rep) Now what? Does she keep the house abandoned until her death or do we get it?
3. Can she rent it out?
4. Her lawyer is trying to get us to buy out her share due to her life expectency. Is this legal?
5. Since she & my dad shared 50-50 on all bills and she got 3 times the soc.security he go and she is living in her daughter's house for free and she has 50,000 in the bank does she get any family allowance?
Thanks for reading this as I can't get any straight answers anywhere.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Elective Share
A response must be general because all necessary facts are not detailed in the question. 1. 30% of estate assets after paying estate claims. If home was their homestead, she has right to life estate, ie, use of property for her life. 2. If homestead, she has right to use for life but is responsible for taxes; 3. Probably yes; 4. Yes, sale of life estate to you is legal, and often done; 5. Court may award up to $6,000 family allowance to surviving spouse and dependent lineal descendants. General response: the attorney of the personal representative, your sister, can answer all these questions in more detail since the issues do not appear to be unique.
Father's Estate
Louise Aron
Attorney at Law
Lakewood Office:
1536 South Ingalls
Lakewood, Colorado 80232 USA
(303) 922 7687
fax (303) 922-1370
Cherry Creek Office:
300 South Jackson #100
Denver, Colorado 80209 USA
(303) 780-7339
Satellite offices:
Boulder - 4450 Arapahoe Avenue, #100
DTC - 4610 South Ulster, #150
A TOLL FREE NUMBER is available to clients outside the Denver metro area.
My web site http://effectnet.com/la/
My email: [email protected]
LawGuru User
Dear LawGuru User:
Elective share is an extremely complex area of the law. In the elective share case I handled, each outside expert retained to give an opinion as to the amount of the elective share along with allowances gave a different sum.
Thus you may not be able to get a "straight" answer to your questions.
Often, estate matters are more open to interpretation and compromise than heirs assume. It is likely that an attorney who represents you could persuade your stepmother to relinquish her interest in the house, split any rental income, or come to some other agreement. If you do not hire an attorney, your stepmother's attorney may have the "upper hand" by virtue of his or her familiarity with the law.
Please feel free to contact me with further questions.
Thank you for using LawGuru.
Sincerely,
Louise Aron
Attorney at Law
My web site http://effectnet.com/la/
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
